The term "owner" is not used in connection with a 501(c)(3) organization. The Board of Directors and, in membership organizations, the members, would control a 501(c)(3) organization, but no entity owns a 501(c)(3) organization. Harvey Mechanic Attorney At Law [email protected]

A little background first. My wifes mother owns several properties and has several mortgages. My wife is on the deeds and the mortgages too.

When my wife and I decided to buy a house a year and a half ago we had trouble getting all of the information together for the loan officer. Because my wife is on her mothers mortgages, the loan officer wanted paperwork from my wifes mother showing that my wife didnt actually make payments on the mortgages. To make the process easier my wifes name was removed from the loan paperwork. Everything went through fine after that.

At the time of closing I did most of the signing and my wife had to sign a couple documents at most. We were told that even though shes my spouse, if I were to pass away there was no guarantee that she would end up with ownership of the house. Later on our Realtor recommended that we get a promissory note to resolve this issue. Is this all it takes? Is this even a concern?